Written Answers Thursday 7 January 2010

Scottish Executive

Animal Welfare

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many animals were legally snared in (a) 2007, (b) 2008 and (c) 2009, broken down by animal type.

Roseanna Cunningham: The information requested is not available. There is no requirement for operators of snares to keep records or submit returns on numbers of animals caught in snares.

Animal Welfare

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many animals have been illegally snared in each of the last three years for which information is available, broken down by animal type.

Roseanna Cunningham: This information is not collected.

Animal Welfare

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many successful prosecutions there have been for the illegal setting of snares in each of the last three years for which information is available.

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many prosecutions for illegal snaring there were in (a) 2007, (b) 2008 and (c) 2009.

Roseanna Cunningham: Information held on the Scottish Government Court Proceedings database indicates that in the financial years 2005-06, 2006-07 and 2007-08, the last three years for which data is available, there was one prosecution in a Scottish court (in 2005-06) where the main offence related to the use of illegal snaring practices and which resulted in a conviction. In 2009, two prosecutions relating to the illegal setting of snares resulted in conviction.

Animal Welfare

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what system it has in place to record incidents of illegal snaring.

Roseanna Cunningham: Reports of illegal snaring offences are included in the Police Recorded Crime Record.

Animal Welfare

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many licenses were granted for the snaring of (a) mountain hares and (b) other protected species in (i) 2007, (ii) 2008 and (iii) 2009.

Richard Lochhead: No licenses have been issued to snare mountain hares or other protected species between 2007 and 2009.

Birds

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take to better protect golden eagles.

Roseanna Cunningham: The Scottish Government announced proposals for six new golden eagle special protection areas on 1 December. Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) will commence consultation on the proposals (on behalf of the Scottish Government) on 13 January. Further information is available on the SNH website via the following web address:

  http://www.snh.org.uk/strategy/GE_consult01.asp.

  The Scottish Government works with land management, conservation and law enforcement organisations through PAW Scotland to improve the investigation and enforcement of wildlife crime, while at the same time increasing awareness and educating the public. Persecution of raptor species is one of six UK Wildlife Crime Priorities and in Scotland the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland lead for Wildlife and Environmental Crime has committed to leading an action plan for this priority with full support of PAW Scotland and the Scottish Government.

Birds

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive in what regions it or Scottish Natural Heritage considers golden eagle populations to be in an unsatisfactory or vulnerable state and what the reasons for this are.

Roseanna Cunningham: Scottish National Heritage (SNH) published a conservation framework for golden eagles in July 2008. This sets out an analysis of three national surveys carried out in 1982, 1992 and 2003 across the natural heritage zones of Scotland. On the basis of that report, the populations were considered to be in an unfavourable condition in the following areas: North West seaboard, Peatlands of Caithness and Sutherland, Northern, Western and Central Highlands, Cairngorms Massif, North East Glens, Lochaber, Breadalbane and East Argyll, Western and Southern Uplands and the Border Hills.

  A variety of factors was considered to account for these unfavourable populations, notably a shortage of live prey due to heavy deer and sheep grazing pressure in the north and western parts of the eagle range (given as the principal reason in five of the regions above) and persecution in some eastern and southern areas (given as the principal reason for five regions). Monitoring of the different ranges continues under the auspices of the Scottish Raptor Monitoring Scheme and a fourth national survey is planned for 2013.

Birds

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many hen harriers are known to nest in Scotland, broken down by local authority area, and when these data were collected.

Roseanna Cunningham: National surveys of hen harriers have been carried out in 1988, 1989, 1998 and 2004, with a further survey planned for 2010.

  The current population is estimated to be 630 pairs. Scottish National Heritage (SNH) holds data for hen harrier and other raptors at the regional level of natural heritage zones (NHZ’s) rather than for local authority areas. A regional breakdown of the mean number of occupied territories across the 21 NHZ’s is provided in the following table.

  Hen Harrier – Mean Number of Occupied Territories

  

Natural Heritage Zone
Mean Number of Occupied Territories Over the Four Surveys


North Caithness
58.8


Western Isles
11.3


Western Seaboard
11.3


Peatlands of Caithness and Sutherland
14.3


Northern Highlands
9.8


Western Highlands
1.5


Central Highlands
11


Cairngorms Massif
15.3


North East Glens
19


Lochaber
1


Moray Firth
1


East Lowlands
1


Argyll West and Islands
59.8


Breadalbane and East Argyll
17.8


West Central Belt
8


Western Southern Uplands
33.3


Border Hills
13

Culture

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with local authorities to establish what artworks of potential national significance are held in their archives but not currently on display.

Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Government has not had any such discussions directly with local authorities. This is a matter for local authorities themselves to determine. However, through the Recognition Fund, the Scottish Government does offer support for local authority and other non-national museums and galleries to increase access to their collections of national significance.

Dentistry

Jamie Stone (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) (LD): To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government is taking to reduce waiting lists for access to NHS dental care.

Alex Salmond: We are investing significantly in NHS dental services in Scotland to increase access to NHS dental care.

  We currently have the highest number of dentists working in general dental services since 2003 and spending on general dental services increased to £354.5 million in 2008-09, an increase of 9.58% from the previous year.

  We have achieved our manifesto commitment to open a new dental school in Aberdeen and I will open, formally, the new state-of-the-art dental school building on 19 January 2010.

  We have also re-introduced a preventive school based dental service which is currently being rolled out across Scotland and have delivered early the dental HEAT target that 80% of all three to five year old children should be registered with an NHS dentist by 2010-11.

Fisheries

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made with the independent review of the origins of the recent outbreak of infectious salmon anaemia in Shetland.

Roseanna Cunningham: Marine Scotland are in the process of completing a report into the outbreak of infectious salmon anaemia (ISA) in south west Shetland which will be reviewed by an independent scientific expert.

Fisheries

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has access to independent findings on infectious salmon anaemia outbreaks prior to authorising any payments to affected fish farms.

Roseanna Cunningham: The Scottish Government has access to findings provided by the Fish Health Inspectorate and diagnostic laboratories at Marine Scotland Science. The identification of infectious salmon anaemia (ISA) was made by Marine Scotland Science in accordance with European legislation and internationally agreed scientific protocols.

Fisheries

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive under what circumstances and for what purposes it can authorise payments to fish farms affected by infectious salmon anaemia and what considerations it must take into account in doing so.

Roseanna Cunningham: Under the European Fisheries Fund, aid is available toward the control and eradication of diseases in aquaculture as well as measures to improve fish and shellfish health and welfare. The scheme is discretionary and competitive and projects must be able to demonstrate the benefits public assistance will deliver in competition with wider applications under the fund.

Fisheries

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions have been held with the Norwegian Government on infectious salmon anaemia and what lessons have emerged.

Roseanna Cunningham: Discussions with officials of the Norwegian Government established that, in similar circumstances, the Norwegian authorities would have implemented the same controls as were used to eradicate the outbreak of infectious salmon anaemia (ISA) in Shetland.

Fisheries

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what contingency plans exist to deal with unacceptably high levels of sea lice infestation on salmon farms.

Roseanna Cunningham: A sea lice control strategy is being developed by a joint industry/government working group established under A Fresh Start – the renewed Strategic Framework for Scottish Aquaculture . The working group will report to Marine Scotland by March 2010.

Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the percentage increase in emergency hospital admissions was in (a) 2007-08 and (b) 2008-09.

Nicola Sturgeon: The year-on-year percentage increase in emergency admissions to NHSScotland acute (non-psychiatric non-obstetric) hospitals for the years 2007-08 and 2008-09 is shown in the following table:

  

Financial Year1 
Percentage Increase2


2007-08
4.2%


2008-09P
1.4%



  Source: ISD Scotland (SMR01).

  PProvisional.

  Notes:

  1. Year ending 31 March.

  2. Calculated as the increase in emergency admissions when compared to the previous financial year.

  Further information on emergency hospital admissions, including the numerators and denominators upon which the figures quoted above are based, is published on the Acute Hospital Care section of ISD Scotland’s website at http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/4066.html. (Summary information by specialty and NHS board of treatment tables).

Healthcare Associated Infection

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason the real-time data on infection rates is not provided by every NHS board and whether it will list those boards for which no data has been supplied.

Nicola Sturgeon: All NHS boards publish reports on their websites using the HAI reporting template introduced in January 2009. The content and substance of each report varies by board but, as a minimum, all NHS boards publish Clostridium difficile and Staphylococcus aureaus Bacteraemia data by month and by hospital.

  A short-life working group has been established by NHS Scotland to review the structure and presentation of the HAIRT and to consider what changes are necessary in order to make the information, as presented, more consistent across NHS boards and easier to understand. This group will report the outcomes of its finding in the New Year. I expect their recommendations to be adopted and implemented in full by all NHS boards. It is anticipated that the revised mandatory template will be rolled out from March 2010.

Housing

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-29298 by Alex Neil on 9 December 2009, which 26 local authorities were initially approached regarding the development of a national housing trust.

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-29298 by Alex Neil on 9 December 2009, what criteria were used to identify the 26 local authorities initially approached regarding the development of a national housing trust.

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-29298 by Alex Neil on 9 December 2009, which 18 local authorities indicated a willingness to look at the housing trust model in more detail.

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-29298 by Alex Neil on 9 December 2009, whether it will outline the reasons given by the eight local authorities that did not offer to look at the housing trust model in more detail.

Alex Neil: As part of the exploratory work by the Scottish Futures Trust, the local authorities listed below were approached informally regarding the development of a National Housing Trust. This was to seek their initial views in order to gauge whether or not there was likely to be local authority interest and whether a viable business case could be made for the model. Local authorities were selected on the basis of falling into one or more of four broad categories:

  Councils where there was likely to be demand for mid-market rent housing;

  Councils facing particular challenges in meeting their homelessness targets;

  Councils who had already expressed an interest in this type of innovative model, and

  Other Councils suggested by housing officials working in that region.

  The local authorities marked with an asterisk below expressed interest in looking at the housing trust model in more detail. Two of the 26 councils initially contacted did not provide any response. Most others who did not express any interest did not provide detailed reasons, but noted that they did not feel the model would be suitable in their area. Where councils did provide reasons these focussed on: there being little or no suitable mothballed private housing sites in their area; mid-market rent housing not being a priority for their council or concerns about the need to borrow funds from the Public Works Loan Board.

  COSLA has since been consulting all Scottish councils to confirm which councils wish to be involved in further discussions on the housing trust proposals.

  Aberdeen* Aberdeenshire* Angus* City of Edinburgh* Clackmannanshire Dumfries and Galloway Dundee City* East Dunbartonshire East Lothian* East Renfrewshire* Eilean Siar Falkirk* Fife* Glasgow* Highland* Midlothian* Moray* North Lanarkshire* Orkney Islands Perth and Kinross* Renfrewshire* Scottish Borders Shetland Islands South Lanarkshire* Stirling* West Lothian.

Housing

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when National Housing Trust – summary of proposals and Increasing Affordable Housing Supply from Limited Public Resources – The Proposed National Housing Trust Initiative were lodged with the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe) and whether these papers will be made available online.

Alex Neil: These background papers on the national housing trust proposal were lodged with the Scottish Parliament Information Centre on 9 December 2009. These papers are also now available on the Scottish Government’s website at http://www.scotland.gov.uk .

Housing

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-29298 by Alex Neil on 9 December 2009, what the timetable is for developing detailed proposals for a national housing trust.

Alex Neil: The Scottish Government and Scottish Futures Trust are currently discussing the housing trust proposals further with local authorities and COSLA. The timetable for any further development of the proposals will be informed by these discussions and the time needed for local authority partners to consider them.

Housing

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-29299 by Alex Neil on 9 December 2009, whether it will specify the organisations that it met, on what dates, and the subjects discussed in each case regarding the development of a national housing trust.

Alex Neil: The meetings held with stakeholders (such as COSLA, local authorities, the Scottish Futures Trust, lenders, developers, housing associations, the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations and insolvency practitioners) to discuss proposals for a housing trust model were held in confidence and in some cases discussed information of a commercially sensitive nature. The Scottish Government has provided the same public information to all stakeholders and to Parliament by publishing background information on the proposals (Bib. number 49829 and 49830 in the Scottish Parliament’s Information Centre). Provision of information around stakeholders exploring the housing trust model could impact on their willingness to engage in future discussions or to become involved in the model. It might also negatively affect the value for taxpayers’ money which could be achieved through open public procurement.

Justice

Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) prosecutions, (b) convictions and (c) cautions there have been for an offence against a person under 16 under section 22 of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2003 in each year since 2003.

Fergus Ewing: There have been no convictions in Scottish courts under the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2003 section 22 recorded on the Scottish Government’s Court Proceedings Database.

  Data supplied by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service identified one case where a person was proceeded against in relation to sex trafficking offences under Section 22 of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2003. Proceedings were subsequently discontinued following a review of the available evidence.

  Formal police cautions do not apply in Scotland.

  The latest year for which data is available from the Scottish Government’s Court Proceedings Database is 2007-08.

Justice

Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) prosecutions, (b) convictions and (c) cautions there have been for offences under the Protection of Children and Prevention of Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2005 in each year since 2005.

Fergus Ewing: There was one person prosecuted in 2005-06, three in 2006-07 and one in 2007-08 under the Protection of Children and Prevention of Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2005. All resulted in a conviction except for the one in 2007-08. The crimes included grooming of children for sexual purposes and breach of risk of sexual harm orders. Formal police cautions do not apply in Scotland. The latest year for which data is available is 2007-08.

NHS Staff

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the review of the role of a senior charge nurse is now complete and, if so, what key changes have arisen from the review.

Nicola Sturgeon: The review of the role of the senior charge nurse (SCN) was completed in 2008, with the key aim of creating a modern role which maximised the SCNs contribution to delivering safe and effective care. Leading Better Care , launched in June 2008, established a national role framework for SCNs working in hospital settings across NHS Scotland. The framework for the role includes four core responsibilities:

  Ensuring safe and effective clinical practice (including responsibilities for tackling healthcare associated infection),

  Enhancing the patient experience,

  Managing and developing the performance of the team and

  Contributing to the delivery of the organisation’s objectives.

  The national progress reporting process is demonstrating that Leading Better Care is providing NHS Scotland with SCNs who are visible, approachable and empowered clinical leaders, who are being supported in fulfilling their role as guardians of care quality and clinical standards. SCNs also have a key role in implementing clinical quality indicators (CQIs) for nursing and midwifery which cover food, fluid and nutrition, falls, pressure ulcer prevention and in monitoring of infections within their clinical area – a key element of Scotland’s patient safety programme.

  Leading Better Care set out the aim that the framework for SCNs and the CQIs should be fully implemented within NHS boards by December 2010.

Student Finance

Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what different (a) sources and (b) levels of financial support are available to student parents in (i) further and (ii) higher education.

Michael Russell: Further education students with children can apply to their college for help from the further education discretionary fund (FEDF) and the childcare fund (CCF). A detailed guidance document which sets out the conditions for use by colleges of the funds and guidance about payments can be found on the Scottish Funding Council website at:

  http://www.sfc.ac.uk/web/FILES/CircularsSFC2009/_guidance_fe_discretionary_2009_10.pdf.

  Higher education students who are single parents and eligible for student support can apply to the Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS) for the Lone Parent’s Grant and the Lone Parent’s Childcare Grant. Full details of eligibility and levels of current support can be found on the SAAS website at http://www.saas.gov.uk/student_support/special_circumstances/lone_parent.htm.

  All higher education students with children, who are eligible for student support, can also apply for help from the higher education discretionary fund (HEDF) and the higher education discretionary childcare fund (HEDCF). The higher education discretionary funds are paid in addition to any other forms of student support and administered by the individual institutions. The guidance that is sent to the institutions to help them administer the funds, including eligibility and levels of payments can be found on the SAAS website at http://www.saas.gov.uk/_forms/disc_funds_0910_revised.pdf.

  In addition, support with childcare costs in general are provided in the form of UK tax credits, childcare vouchers and funded nursery places for all children over the age of three.

Student Finance

Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what different (a) sources and (b) levels of financial support are available to mature (i) further and (ii) higher education students.

Michael Russell: The different sources and levels of financial support available, for academic year 2009-10, to mature further education students, including details on residency, previous study and age criteria are publicly available and can be found on the Scottish Funding Council website:

  http://www.sfc.ac.uk/funding/colleges/collegefundingstreams/student_support/bursary_support_2009_10.aspx.

  The information for academic year 2009-10, for mature higher education students is publicly available and can be found on the Student Awards Agency for Scotland website:

  http://www.saas.gov.uk/student_support/scottish_inside/2001_or_later/financial_support.htm.

  The information for academic year 2009-10, for part time learners is publicly available and can be found on the Scottish Government website:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/82254/0092525.pdf.

Student Finance

Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what different (a) sources and (b) levels of financial support are available to (i) further and (ii) higher education students under the age of 25.

Michael Russell: The different sources and levels of financial support available, for academic year 2009-10, to further education students under the age of 25, including details on residency, previous study and age criteria are publicly available and can be found on the Scottish Funding Council website:

  http://www.sfc.ac.uk/funding/colleges/collegefundingstreams/student_support/bursary_support_2009_10.aspx.

  The information for academic year 2009-10, for higher education students under the age of 25 is publicly available and can be found on the Student Awards Agency for Scotland website:

  http://www.saas.gov.uk/student_support/scottish_inside/2001_or_later/financial_support.htm.

Student Finance

Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what different (a) sources and (b) levels of financial support are available to (i) medical, (ii) teaching and (iii) nursing students, broken down by (A) age and (B) mode of study.

Michael Russell: The different sources and levels of financial support, for academic year 2009-10, available to medical, teaching and nursing students, broken down by age and mode of study is publicly available and can be found on the Student Awards Agency for Scotland website  http://www.saas.gov.uk/student_support/index.htm .

Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body

Blood Transfusion Service

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it allows paid time off for employees to attend the mobile blood transfusion service when it visits the Parliament.

Mike Pringle: : Yes, the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body does allow paid time off for employees to attend the mobile blood transfusion service when it visits the Parliament.

Blood Transfusion Service

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it is aware of good practice by employers in enabling staff to attend mobile transfusion services without loss of pay and, if so, whether it will adopt such a practice.

Mike Pringle: : The Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body is aware of this good practice and already allows its staff paid time off to attend the mobile transfusion service when it visits the Parliament.